2010-02-22, 16:05 | Link #6201 | |
Aria Company
Join Date: Nov 2003
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2010-02-22, 18:19 | Link #6204 | ||
Rawrrr!
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: CH aka Chocaholic Heaven
Age: 40
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2010-02-22, 20:23 | Link #6205 | |
Senior Member
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The Government is extremely inefficient. There is much bureaucracy and red-tape, and I'd wager near half of the money spent, ends up not being used for it's intended purpose. Not to mention, it was never the job of the Federal Government, to be in 90% of the programs it's in now. At some point, you have to say that enough is enough. As Dennis Prager loves to say, and I agree with him wholeheartedly on this. The bigger the Government, the smaller the individual. That is not an American Value. Never has been, and never should be. |
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2010-02-22, 23:09 | Link #6207 | ||
Bittersweet Distractor
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 32
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_472172.html
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_471410.html Quote:
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2010-02-22, 23:24 | Link #6209 |
Not Enough Sleep
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 48
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depends on what it spends the money on. rebuilding infastrcutre (roads, power grid, bridges, etc) then it will be. tax breaks for wooded arrows and other pork projects, then the answer is no.
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2010-02-23, 01:03 | Link #6210 | ||
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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In Australia, well on their way to "We've always been at war with Oceania"...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8529613.stm Quote:
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2010-02-23, 02:13 | Link #6211 | |
Aria Company
Join Date: Nov 2003
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2010-02-23, 02:30 | Link #6212 | |
Disabled By Request
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2010-02-23, 02:49 | Link #6213 | |
Senior Member
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I'd phase out SS/Medicare/Medicaid. Those who have paid into it, can draw it when their time comes. Those who haven't paid into it, or have just started contributing, should be able to opt out completely. I would if I had a choice. Those who don't contribute, don't get it. Once my generation passes, scrap the programs completely. Never bring them back. Schools should be a local or state issue. Not a Federal one. Each city/county/state is going to have different needs and requirements. The locals can take care of that issue with property taxes, sales taxes, etc. Whatever $ issues states are having, can easily be fixed by phasing out pensions being paid to public employees(including politicians), and being more efficient with where tax money is being spent. In Surplus years put some money aside in a rainy day fund. Only to be used in times of crisis or years where the tax revenue isn't as good. Send the rest of the surplus back to the tax users. Don't increase state spending when you have Surpluses. California did this. It more than doubled our budget over the past decade. Then when the economy tanked, our budget was still over 100 billion dollars, but revenue was cut severely. I do not want ANY Federal Money spent on Food Stamps or other entitlement programs. None. Zero. Zilch. That was NEVER the intent of the U.S. Government. Ever. I don't give a damn about people who've made poor decisions in their lives. There are charities and churches in local communities willing to help people. You can find help there. But I hate seeing people come to the government with their hands held out looking for free food, free money, free shelter, etc. Now those who have just had bad luck, I'd support some kind of STATE programs to help them. But not Federal. |
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2010-02-23, 03:04 | Link #6214 |
Disabled By Request
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^ I think the question Kamui's trying to pose is how the removal of social cares and programs are going to change things and if they will be for better or for worse. He's not asking for what people should be doing or what should be happening, he's asking you what you think will happen if such a measure were to be taken. Bear in mind that a lot of these people don't even have a home. Should they just be left out on the streets to die? i'm sorry, but to me that's just inhumane. You are right that people should take responsibility for their actions, but more often than not, a lot of these people who rely on the programs have nothing else left for them. I doubt even they like to live in shelters.
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2010-02-23, 03:14 | Link #6215 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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There simply aren't enough shelters and aid systems in place (either private, religious, or government) to go around for everyone.
In the US right now, there are six people officially looking for work for every job slot available. That doesn't include the ones who've given up in depression after looking for a year or more - or whom have simply fallen off the list because the unemployment ran out. Pulling the social safety net down right now is likely to have unintended results. The fascinating thing is that many countries *have* social safety nets that pretty much work ... but there seems to be a different underlying ethic in how to make use of them. Japan is interesting to me because until the 1990s... the corporations themselves were the social safety net as they were a barely disguised variation on the old clan systems. You pledged fealty to the overlords and were employed "for life". In the 90s, the Japanese corporations borrowed the American "solution" of firing all the career personnel and mostly using variable temps. The government failed to notice the 'surplus labor pool' had just been dumped in their lap and there are few social safety nets in place. So they have a mess on their hands. The conservatives would like to remove the social safety nets in the US.... which might work if corporations returned to their hiring styles of the period between 1940s and the 1980s. But when you've made a primary revenue stream out of the elimination of jobs.... going to be an interesting ride on the bucket down.
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2010-02-23, 04:21 | Link #6216 | ||
Aria Company
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Also just found this: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100222/...rkey_coup_plot Quote:
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2010-02-23, 10:39 | Link #6217 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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So that is how it is......
U.S. Special Operations Ordered Deadly Afghan Strike Quote:
This is certainly tragic, I don't think the squad involved wants it to happen either.
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2010-02-23, 11:27 | Link #6218 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
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2010-02-23, 11:40 | Link #6219 | |
Banned
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Without that "safety net" I'd be begging you for change on the streets. Or maybe I'd turn to crime and rob your place or mug you. Do you want that? Because that's the alternative. What do you suggest for someone like me? What should I have done if the safety net wasn't there? You may want to look at some European countries, like the Netherlands. The safety net is even bigger there, and the whole country is better and more able to ride out these depression times because of it. Do some people live on handouts? Yep. But the solution is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but learn to identify these people and work with them. Lastly, what's causing our debt is massive military spending. If we stopped playing world police and invading countries, and cut down our military spending, we could wipe out the debt in a decade or two, easy. Military spending is almost 800 billion a year. And our adventures overseas are costing us an extra several billion a day. Medicare/Medicaid is the other big chunk at 650 billion or so, and Social Security is about the same. Cutting food stamps and unemployment wouldn't make a dent in the budget. Not sure what percentage that is, but in comparison, NASA's budget is about 7 billion per year. Cut a couple billion from the military first, and we can easily afford the programs that make life better for millions of Americans. Edit: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_budget |
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2010-02-23, 12:36 | Link #6220 | |
Senior Member
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Just like Police are not required to protect you, I'm not required to take care of you. I know I sound like an asshole, but frankly, I'm sick and tired of the Government taking money from my paychecks and gives it to people who don't do anything to deserve it. It's redistribution of wealth, and it's going to be a leading cause of a revolution someday. As inhumane as you think it is, making the Government go bankrupt is even worse in the long term. I've been working since before I had my driver's license. When everybody else around me didn't have money, I had money from working. I also have made sure that where ever I got hired, they had some form of health insurance. I've done fairly well for myself having not even finished college. With the housing market finally coming back down to realistic levels, I even have gone halves with my father for a house in Lake Havasu, Arizona. A nice 3 bedroom 1900sq place. Should make a nice vacation home for the spring and fall when it's not so hot there. I'm also debating going back to school to finish my degree, or get a second job just to pass the time. Scouring Craigslist there's hundreds of jobs available for those who want to work(I'm only referring to San Diego where I live). I'm waiting to find one that I want to work with the hours that I can do(since I have a full-time job already). If I can succeed, anybody can. So pardon me if I don't feel sorry for most people. I've been contributing to my community and to my country in some fashion for half of my short life, and will continue to do so for another 30-40 years. I also vote in every election, and am involved in the politics of my area. Last edited by justinstrife; 2010-02-23 at 12:48. |
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